Gears of War: Evolution
by Z. Angaros
Summary: It's been three years since the war was ended by the actions of Adam Fenix & Delta One. Now a squad of gears that walked away from the Coalition have stumbled upon a new terror that is lurking in the shadows of Sera. They must hunt down the old members of Delta in hopes of finding the one man with ties to the only scientist that could help them but how much good can a dead man do?


**A/N: This first chapter will be a bit of a long one, I felt getting it all into one chapter would have been easier than trying to cut it into multiples. The squad you are meeting is entirely my own. I'll have artwork of them posted on my DeviantArt page soon. I've been working on this story for a few years and finally hammered out the details to my liking in order to publish it, this will take place three years after Gears of War 3 ends.**

 **Gears of War belongs to it's respective creators of Epic Games and The Coalition**

The air was warm, humid and choking. Fitting for the jungle like area of this new island they found themselves on. She looked up from her notebook, a beaten up and tattered thing that she has carried since she first became a gear, her green eye focused on the flower she was sketching onto the yellow stained paper. This hobby kept her sane and reminded her of the person she really was, botany was her passion. A passion passed on to her from her mother just like this journal, the beginning pages were covered in her mother's elegant hand writing with beautiful sketches of various plants and their beneficial, or harmful, attributes. Then the pretty writing faded to her hurried penmanship, quick notes and drawings that where not nearly as attractive as the original owner. Still, it wasn't a complete loss. She liked to think she had some skill…

"Found a new one?"

Her eyes moved upward to meet the friendly gaze of her Squad leader, he was more than that though. Jeremiah was more like a father to her, to all of them, and that kind look always made her feel relaxed. "No." She picked up her eye patch that was lying beside her and slipped it on, she knew that none of them cared about the milky white eye but it bothered her. It was one of the things she was still self-conscious about even after all these years. Once she adjusted it she closed the book and returned her attention to the soft blue eyes that watched her. "It's an orchid variant, no beneficial properties…" She touched the petal gently with her fingertips and smiled. "I just like them."

Jeremiah sighed a little as he knelt in front of her with a grin. "We'll have to remember this place then." He held up a canteen of water for her, ruffling her black hair affectionately as she took it. "So I know where to get flowers for your wedding."

She sputtered on the water when he said that and he couldn't help but chuckle. "How many times do I have to tell you not to say stuff like that when I'm drinking?" She screwed the cap back onto the canteen and handed it back to him. He always teased her about it. She knew that he wanted her to settle down someplace safe now that the war was over but she couldn't. Not knowing what happened to her parents, not knowing what happened to her home… and because of her the others couldn't rest either.

She tried, how many times did she argue with them to let her do this on her own? It was her mission, her past she was trying to find, but no matter what she said none of them would leave her. Sometime during the war they became more than a squad and evolved into a full-fledged family.

So here they all where, traveling the scarred face of Sera on a wild goose hunt to find her home…

"I'm serious kiddo." He took the water back and strapped it to his hip, unknowingly interrupting her mental musings. "You're not like the rest of us Jaz, this life…"

 _"_ _Can you hear me pops?"_

Everyone's hands went to their ears instinctively, Jeremiah stood up and nodded towards Toby, his right hand man that was sitting near them and shuffling the same ratty deck of cards he always carried, the gruff man returned the gesture as he put the cards away and stood up. "Loud and clear son. What have you found?"

She stood up, tucking the journal away as she reached down and grabbed her Longshot. She met the other two men on the ledge as they looked out below them to the general location of their scout, she was able to occasionally make out his locator lights thru the foliage but just barely. She knew Riktor liked to keep low to the ground when he scouted and the plant life was pretty thick here.

 _"_ _A whole lot of jack shit…"_ The voice grumbled through the ear pieces. _"_ _Are you sure those stranded gave us legit intel?"_

Toby responded with a grunt. "Zeke wouldn't give us bad info."

 _"_ _Oh, you mean like when he gave us that 'great' intel on some supplies that turned out to be a crate full of smut."_

"I wasn't complaining." Jeremiah chimed in. "Most action I'd seen in a good long while."

Jazmyne couldn't help but chuckle, she remembered that fiasco. When they met back up with their stranded contact, Zeke, he laughed so hard and made Riktor so unbelievably mad. It took both Toby and Jeremiah to hold him down.

* * *

"You're a damn liar too." Riktor responded as he crouched down to rub the soil between his fingers. "You see more action than any of us you rotten old pervert."

He switched his ear piece to remain open as he picked up a twig that had been broken, odd… they hadn't seen much for wild life lately… suddenly the bushes rustled right in front of his face, startling him and sending him falling back with a loud curse.

 _"You alright!?"_

 _"_ _Adrian!?"_

 _"_ _Report!?"_

The combined words rung out in his ear, his hand reached for the trench knife in his belt. Just as his fingers grazed the metal a pig emerged from the rustling bush. Grunting happily to itself.

 _"_ _Don't leave me hang'n son."_

Jeremiah's voice calmed his nerves a little as he took a deep breath. "It's all good pops." He took another deep breath as he grumbled to himself, he couldn't believe he let that walking pile of bacon catch him of guard. "Just a god damn pig."

 _"_ _Don't scare us like that."_ The old man's voice had a sound of relief. _"_ _Why don't you snatch up that side of ham, we can have lunch and figure out our next move."_

"Yea, sounds good." He switched his ear piece back to a regular setting and stood up with a grunt, brushing himself off with more cursing. He looked around and took note to the little porker rooting around at a bush opposite of the one it strutted out from. "Where did you even come from?" He walked over to the pig and knelt down to get a better look at it, it was odd because it seemed like with was used to humans… or not used to them so it didn't give a damn but one thing was for sure, it certainly wasn't your standard wild pig… he put his face down to the level of the porker, eyeing a small but worn down path thru the brush. Some of the tracks looked fresher but it was the older ones that interested him. Multiple prints, most coming from the same direction… He stood up and eyed the area where the tracks came from. The plant life was pretty thick in that direction and it looked like the terrain raised into a pretty steep hill, something caught his eye but he couldn't make it out. It was almost like a glint over the top of the hill, light reflecting backwards against the shine from the sun… Damn. He looked around but nothing would give him a good view to check it out with his monocular scope. His hand went back to his ear and clicked on the com once again. "Jazzi, I need you to check something out for me."

* * *

She arched her brow as she walked back over to the ledge, switching her channel to stay open so she could keep both hands on the longshot. "Find something?"

 _"_ _Not sure yet."_

She raised the gun and peered thru the scope, she knew his general location and found him fairly quickly thanks to the locator lights on his gear. It helped that he was doing his best to be seen by waving an arm above his head too. "Got you in my sights, what am I looking for?"

 _"_ _Go about 5° northwest of my position, there's a faint light reflecting off something, I'm guessing extend your search 2 klicks out from that point."_

"Really trying to test the limits of my scope huh?" She said jokingly as she moved her sights away from him, she never did understand how he could figure out these things. Granted, he did have the best eye sight out of anyone she's ever met in the Coalition and better than anyone in their squad by far… She felt the presence of Toby moving up beside her, she could tell it was him from the feint smell of grease. Most likely he was using his own pocket scope to follow Adrian's directions… he must have located whatever it was first because she could hear him mumbling to himself as if whatever it was seemed interesting.

That's when she saw it, a reflection of light from the sun behind them, the corner of a panel sticking up above the tree line just barely. Focusing on the area around it she found other antennas, hidden slivers of gunmetal gray thru the greenery. She could feel her heart faltering, no. She had to stay calm, there was no telling if that could really be her ship… Her ship. It had been so long since she referred to it as that.

A heavy hand on her shoulder made her jump a little and bring her back to reality, she could tell it was Jeremiah from the scent of cigars on his hand. It calmed her down a little as she took a breath and continued to look around.

"What do you see kiddo?" He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, he could tell by how tense she got that she found something. Could it really be what they had been searching for? After three long years even he was starting to doubt they'd ever find it.

"It's a solar panel…and I can spot a few antennas…" She tried to keep her voice steady but there was no hiding the hint of hope in her words.

"Ha!" He exclaimed as he clapped his hands together with a wide grin. "Let's get our gear together and check it out." Even if whatever this is didn't pan out, this was the first time they actually found something promising.

 _"_ _Orders?"_

Adrian's quizzical voice sounded in their ears, they had forgotten that Jazmyne was the only one with an open channel going. Jeremiah stuck his finger to his ear again to respond. "Hunker down son, we're packing up and will regroup shortly."

 _"_ _Copy that."_

They heard the click of his com going silent, then the sound of shuffling feet filled the area. Jeremiah breathed a heavy sigh of relief, he knew he shouldn't let himself give his hopes up but this felt different. "Whose turn is it to wake Delgado?"

"Mine." Toby raised his hand half way then tucked his pocket scope away.

"Make it a good one." Jeremiah smirked as he turned to Jaz, who was slinging her longshot across her back and grabbing her pack. He really hoped that this was finally the goose they'd been chasing after for so long, especially for her sake. Maybe she could finally rest…

Jazmyne, repositioned the pack that hung on her hip, her heart was racing and hands trembling. She kept telling herself that this might not be it, this might not be the ship… but was it so wrong to hope?

A loud 'thud' rang out from the sound of Toby's oversized boot connecting with Delgado's plate armor and the resulting grunt of pain and stream of cursing that let them know he was awake. It was a bit of a game to them, they all took turns waking him in the same manor. Mostly it was because they found it amusing and it helped to ease the tension, granted, she was positive that Adrian enjoyed it entirely too much and kicked harder than the rest of them but Delgado never got mad.

Despite how lazy he seemed she had no doubt that he would never let them down, he's proven himself time and time again whenever the proverbial shit hit the fan.

"Careful Tío!" Delgado was up on his feet now, brushing himself off and rubbing his side. "This is grade 'A' meat on these bones, keep kicking me like that and I'll get over tenderized."

Toby planted an open hand smack to the back of the boy's head with a grunt. "There's no such thing as meat that's too tender, thought I raised you better than to be so damn sacrilegious."

There was a combined chuckling as they gathered the rest of their gear together and made the slow climb down the hill, it was going to be a pain going down just to meet up and make that steep climb uphill but with any luck, the reward would be worth it.

* * *

It took them a good minute to pick their way down, a trek made all the much harder from their already tattered webbing catching and snagging on the abundance of thorn bushes in the area. It was a good thing they weren't trying to sneak up on anyone because they were making a holy hell of a racket.

They broke through the brush and found the area they left Riktor but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where ya at son?" Jeremiah looked around but didn't see any sign of him, damn that kid was good at hiding.

Jazmyne walked ahead of them a few paces, juggling a small rock between her hands as she smiled to herself. This was another one of their games, another thing to help try and keep them sane. For deserters like them… they needed every chance they could to unwind. Even just a little… ah, there he is. She turned on her heel and flung the stone into a tree, laughing a bit as she heard the stone hit its mark with a dull 'crack' and a curse.

"HA!" Jeremiah exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. "She got ya again son!"

Riktor sighed as he jumped from his perch, locator lights flickering on as he rubbed his arm where the stone hit. "How do you manage to do that every time?"

She just tapped her nose with a smirk as she eyed the hill they were supposed to climb; it did not look friendly by any means.

Delgado came up and pulled him in with a one armed hug around the shorter man's neck. "Hey brother, I think she's telling you that you smell."

"I'm going to punch you Delgado." Riktor gave him a sideways glance, sheer death in his hazel-green eyes. " _Really_ hard."

"Maybe that's why she won't…" His words were interrupted and replaced by a heavy exhale of breath as Adrian's elbow connected with his ribs.

"I swear to god I'll kill you one day." The stout man grumbled as he shrugged off his brother's arm, he hated being teased about it. He shifted his pack and pointed towards the hill. "We should get moving, burning day light."

Jeremiah and Toby walked up behind the man still rubbing his ribs and planted a combined smack to the back of his head. "Keep telling you to ease off the boy." Jeremiah started the scolding.

"He _will_ stab you one day." Toby finished the mini lecture with a look that said 'no more for today' before eyeing the hill with a sigh, he was not going to enjoy this.

"Alright, alright." He raised his hands defensively. "Next time we hit up a town I'll find him a cute little kitten to love up on." He smiled as he repositioned the lancer that got jostled around from being smacked and elbowed.

"Get on it." Jeremiah nodded to the hill and the kids returned the gesture before they started their climb, he watched them as they went and stopped at the base of the hill beside his old friend. They exchanged a tired look and combined sigh. "I think I'm getting too old for this."

Toby smirked at that. "Yea… you are pretty old." He gave his buddy a rough pat on the shoulder before starting after the kids.

"You're older than me old man." Jeremiah shot back as he followed after him.

* * *

They climbed for a while until the terrain leveled out, they moved in single file following Riktor's lead as he tracked the animal trail. It led them in the same direction that Jazzi spotted that panel and the antenna, he still wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. This walk should've only taken half an hour at best but it dragged on for much longer. The terrain was dodgy and these damn thorn bushes snagged on every little nook they could weasel their points into.

Jazmyne pushed on, if she could run then she would. The closer they got the more her heart started to pound in her chest, her mind screaming "what if's" in rapid succession while simultaneously attempting to answer all the doubts.

 _'_ _What if they survived?'_

 _It's been nineteen years; they would've made contact._

 _'_ _What if it's all destroyed?'_

 _That ship was reinforced to withstand the blasts, father made sure of it._

 _'_ _What if it's not the ship?'_

 _…_

That one got her, she had nothing to convince her that it would be. Hell, all she saw was a panel and some antenna. No real proof that there was a ship attached to any of it… wait a minute…

Jazmyne looked around, something seemed off to her but she couldn't quite place it. A scent that seemed out of place, a weird thing to be considering but her sense of smell was even better than Adrian's eyes. Her mother always called it a botanist's nose, developed after years of inadvertent scent training from smelling the different flora during identification. She paused a bit, mainly to concentrate, shutting her eyes and breathing in slowly… what was that smell?

Toby stopped when she did, raising a hand to slow the man behind him. She rarely stopped unless something caught her attention and if that was the case. "What's up baby girl?" He spoke in a whisper, part of him knew he didn't need to but the other part of him was still a gear. His body couldn't help but tense up.

Jeremiah came to a stop, whistling a quick tweet to catch the boys' attention up front and bring them to a halt. It had been a long time since they saw any action outside of a few skirmishes with stranded that still had it out for the Coalition… well, what used to be the Coalition anyways. It was at least a little reassuring that they didn't suffer from too much skill fade.

"I smell…" She gave a puzzled look, she almost doubted her nose for a second. "Salt water."

The others exchanged the same confused look that she had on her face, without needing to be told, Toby took out a map of the island that he got from Zeke. He knew it wasn't up to date, he'd been making changes to it like he did to all his maps. Between the hammer strikes and the wars, the entirety of Sera got a real ugly facelift. He just wanted people to know what their world looked like again…

Jeremiah looked over his friend's shoulder, eyeing the map with a sigh. "We're nowhere near the sea…"

Jazmyne peered at the paper as well, Toby had pointed to their location and from there she took a guess as to where she saw the panel and put her finger on it. "It really doesn't make sense. If the ship is here…"

"That area is a good 70 miles from the shore line, no connecting streams or rivers either…" Toby pondered it for a minute… "See this here." He pointed to the area above where she marked and traced it with his finger. "It's a ravine in the landscape, no direct water supply but…" He had an idea but it was a bit of a long shot. "We should keep moving, we should reach the ship in the next 20 minutes or so."

"Agreed." Jeremiah patted the other man on his shoulder. "Continue to take point Riktor, Delgado stay on him. I'd be a hell of a lot happier if we can find this ship before nightfall." He watched them go and sighed a little, he welcomed the break and lingered for a minute as Toby folded up his map. Damn, getting old was a bitch.

"Hey…" Jazmyne sighed a little as the older men looked towards her, they were like fathers to her and if this turned out to be another lost cause…

Jeremiah pulled her into a hug. "No need." He knew that look on her face, he knew how she felt guilty because she thinks they all are here just to help her out but honestly… they needed her in their lives more than she needed them. He might have tried to convince her to settle down, to live a life of peace but they'd be lost without her. He'd be lost. She might not have been his blood but she was his little girl.

Toby just ruffled her hair and walked past them as he folded up his map and put it away. He wasn't much for making an emotional scene, that was Jer's department.

She smiled as she stepped back. "They're going to leave us behind if we don't hurry." She turned on her heel and jogged a little to catch up to the others.

He smirked as he watched her go and repositioned his pack with a sigh, he was looking forward to making camp tonight. Wherever that may be. This damn island had too many hills.

Toby smiled at her as she went past but his expression changed to a more serious nature as his friend came up beside him. "You know I don't like being the one to say it but what are we gonna do if this is another dead end? Or worse, it's not but nobody is home. You know how she is, she'll want answers." He slung his pack back on and looked up to her following after the boys. "We can't keep this up forever, the years are sneaking up on me and you pretty quick."

Jeremiah let out a heavy sigh, he hated it when the subject was brought up but damn it if it aint true. Hell, he had been looking forward to a nice quiet retirement after the war was over but he could never slink off to kick his feet up while one of his kids needed him. "We'll cross that bridge when we find it." He gave his old friend a somber pat on the shoulder and went on after his team without another word.

He just shook his head and followed after, pushing on like they always did. He couldn't rightly complain thought, he wasn't being forced to stay. All of them had the option to walk away when Jazmyne told them what she had planned, she even tried to convince them to leave and live their own lives but none of them agreed to it. They had been together for too long now; they went past being just another squad a long time ago.

They were family and you don't just walk away from that.

* * *

Jazmyne eyed the flower she had plucked, it was a yellow-ish orange that reminded her of sunrises and unbelievable fragrant. It was interesting and beautiful but she doubted it had any beneficial properties outside of being aesthetically pleasing perhaps she could get some seeds…

"Hey sis." Delgado called out to her and jolted her back to reality. "You're gonna want to check this out." He stood beside Riktor and exchange a smile with him, granted his brother's mouth was covered by his half mask but he knew he had to be smiling too.

She looked up, seeing that look in their eyes, and she ran. She didn't have to; they weren't too far ahead of her but her feet sprinted forward on their own. Thudding heavy against the ground as she came up in between them and skidded to a halt, Adrian's heavy hand on her shoulder keeping her from tumbling forward down the hill. Still, her legs gave out and she fell to the ground. Her eyes brimming with tears.

The older men noted the girl taking off and they picked up the pace themselves, at the top of the hill they saw her in between the boys; sitting on her hip like she had collapsed and Adrian's beside her as always with his hand rubbing her back as if to console her. That's when Jeremiah's heart sank, he hoped this wasn't another failed attempt. He couldn't stand to see that defeated look on his girl's face again.

"Hey pops!" Delgado turned and yelled to them. "You are not gonna believe this."

The men looked to each other with the same weary eyed looked of disbelief on their faces, no way… At the same moment they mustered up a burst of energy to sprint the short distance to the peak where the kids where still staring at their find.

Toby came up behind the group first, looking over their heads at the landscape. "Ho-lee shit…" He muttered as he took it all in, the landscape was completely different from his map. It was like the island got cracked…then it hit him and he couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at old man?" Jeremiah came up beside him, then let out a long whistle as he looked the scene over.

Below them was a site to see, it almost looked like a lake with no visible banks but smack in the middle was the remains of a ship. None of them could even remember the last time they had seen a Raven's Nest class cruiser, a ship that was older than all of them. Only the port side was visible from this angle but on the side of the hull, covered in vines and just barely visible was the bold black lettering of the ships name.

"It's the Absolution." Jazmyne whispered the name, barely able to believe it herself and afraid that by just saying it would wake her up from another one of her dreams where her parents would come running out to greet her… but she knew, just by looking at the ship… that wasn't going to happen.

The massive ship was nestled into the ravine, banged up good and with a pretty big tear in the port side near the stern of the ship; big enough that it would've sunk the ship if it was in deeper water but this lake only covered the rudder and just barely at that.

Just behind the ship Toby could see a rift, it must've led straight out to the ocean but it looked like an avalanche had closed off that route; trapping the ship in this ravine. He just wondered if the damage to the craft was done before or after it became stranded.

"I think you need to get a refund on that map Gramps." Delgado eyed the area cautiously, this hill was damp. One wrong step and you'd be sliding to the bottom… Could be fun. "Cause this don't look anything like what's on your paper."

"Nah, Zeke gave me a good product." He still just couldn't believe it but what other explanation could there be? "The Hammer Strikes did more than burn Sera, it caused tsunamis and earthquakes too. This island must have been hit good, quake split the land… had to been on a mega scale. Or possibly a strike hit close by… Had to be a tsunami in there somewhere, no way that ship just coasted in here. Riding a tidal wave would explain the damage too…"

"Would there have been any survivors?"

Her shaky voice drew their concerned look, Jeremiah laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "We'll find out." He had to admit it didn't look promising, if that ship got stuck here during the strikes that would mean it's been laid up on this island for about 19 years and the overgrowth supported the idea… How the hell did nobody find this place after so long?

Toby sighed as he stepped forward to get a better look at the area through his field glasses. "Looks like the landing doors are open…" He handed the scopes over to Jeremiah so he could have a look as he eyed the downward hill, what was with this island and all these damn hills.

"Not by much…" He scanned the area around the door as best he could but it was hard to get a good look from their angle and all the overgrowth. "Looks like they got jammed up but someone could squeeze through… Not sure how safe it would be though." He handed the specs back and stuck his thumbs in his belt with a sigh. "I do know, however, that two old fat guys aint doin no squeezin."

"Speak for yourself." Toby elbowed him before putting the scopes away. "I'm not that fat."

Jazmyne laughed a bit as she stood up with Adrian's help, she finally found her strength again and brushed the dirt off her gear as she looked back down. "I can make it through the gap. You not so slim types can go through the hole in the stern."

"Riktor, you come with me and Toby through the breech in the hull. Delgado, take Jaz thru the front ramps into the hanger. This way if one entrance is blocked off the other team can still keep on without losing the time of doubling back. By the time we get inside the sun will be down so be careful."

"I can go with Jazzi too…" Riktor piped up. "I'm good at squeezing."

Delgado but an arm around her neck with a sly smile. "Wrong type of squeezing bro."

He responded with a quick jab to his brother's ribs and a low grumble.

"Enough." Toby flicked Riktor in the middle of his forehead. "Jer made the call because the gap is too small, they are the only ones slim enough to slip through." He shot a glare towards both of them to stop their antics. "Burning light, so move it and keep your com channels open."

"Yes, sir." Came the defeated response from the boys.

"And Jaz." Jeremiah got her attention just before she stared her decent behind Delgado. "Be safe."

Smile smiled and gave them a wave goodbye for the time being. "I always am."

"Hey sis!" Delgado interrupted their moment with a shit eating grin as he grabbed her arm. "Express route!" With a laugh he yanked her down onto the muddy hill where she was able to shriek for a moment in surprise before sliding down the hill with her brother, Delgado laughing as hard as he could in the process.

The three men left at the top of the hill could do nothing but groan at the resident thrill seeker of the group, Riktor leaning over to peer down the hill and make sure she didn't get hurt sliding down it. "I'm gonna kill him." He grumbled as he balled his fists so hard the metal on his heavy glove was creaking. "I swear to god I'm gonna kill him."

Jeremiah patted the boy on the back to calm him. "Easy son, you know he does it just to piss you off."

"It's working." He grumbled as he started off down the hill on a less slippery side, he could hear the other men following but he didn't pay them too much mind as he fumed to himself. He primary thoughts on Jazzi, it wasn't like he was worried about her… much. He knew she could take care of herself, he'd seen it himself when they got into skirmishes and Delgado wouldn't let her get hurt. He might've been a royal bastard but he was family. He shook his head and tried to ignore his anger, wasn't much sense getting worked up right now.

* * *

Delgado had taken the lead, stepping attentively in the knee deep water. The ground was pretty soft and rocky, he caught himself slipping on more than one occasion. "You good sis?" He called back to her, he could hear her muttering curse words under her breath.

"Yea." She mumbled cradling her longshot, she couldn't leave it slung on her back or the barrel would be in the water. It was taking them longer than they wanted to reach the ramp because they kept sinking into the mud and now that they were beside the ship it looked like they had to climb up the rubble to reach the gap in the front ramp, it was apparent this debris was what kept the ramp from closing completely.

 _"_ _We made it inside."_

Jeremiah's voice was in their ear, even though the channels where open they refrained from talking to each other unless it was necessary. "We hear ya pops. Bout to make our way in ourselves." He stepped up onto the rubble of twigs and rocks, feeling them shift below his boot. "That's some good news…"

"Hm?" Jazmyne made a questioning sound as she followed his footing.

 _"_ _Care to share?"_

"Yea." He paused for a moment, trying to find a stable place to put his weight on. "The ramp got jammed opened with rocks and crap which means at some point in time, after it got stranded here, this ramp was opened by somebody. So that means…"

"There where survivors." Jazmyne finished with a breath of relief, her heart started pounding again. Was it too soon to hope her parents where some of those survivors?

 _"_ _The layout of this place is different from standard issue."_

She couldn't help but smack her forehead at Toby's transmission. "Sorry, it's been so long… I forgot…" She started fidgeting with her earring, a nervous tick she did when she was trying to concentrate. "We did a lot of overhauling to accommodate us… where are you now?"

 _"_ _Still in the hangar baby girl, lot of water in her too."_

 _"_ _And what the hell is that smell?!"_ Jeremiah interrupted them with a grumble.

"Ah… yea." She paused a moment. "We retrofitted the hangar to house our livestock, there's supposed to be an overhead door that separates the hanger from the maintenance bay." She continued to follow in her brother's footsteps to climb the area, each step shifted more of the rubble that blocked the door. "That's where me and Delgado are working our way into, the door must not have been shut all the way…"

 _"_ _Hold up."_ Jeremiah's voice rang in their ears again. " _Are you telling me I'm balls deep in shit stew?!"_

"Um… Ew." She stepped up onto a larger stone, her shifting weight followed by Delgado's caused the rock to move below her. "Whoa!" She reached out and grabbed onto the ramp and Delgado's hand closed around her wrist.

"You ok?" He pulled her in close to him, his hazel eyes scanning the shifting debris as the ramp groaned loudly. That didn't bode well… "We better get inside sis."

 _"_ _What was that?"_ It was Riktor now, his voice concerned by her small cry. _"_ _Jazzi, you ok?"_

"Yes." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, them stomping on all this debris was loosening it but at least that was some more good news. "And the ramp is still trying to close which means that the ship still has power."

 _"How's that possible? Power cells and fuel should've run out a long time ago."_

"We made the ship to run on renewable sources, turbines and solar panels mostly. Vines must've clogged up the turbines but some of the panels might still be exposed like the one I saw."

" _Gotcha, so how do we get out of here?"_

"Closest exit should be about ten meters to your right, there will be a ladder leading up to a hatch that'll put you in the work shop area."

 _"_ _I see it, gonna head up now kiddo."_

"Alright, be safe." She steadied herself before letting go of his arm, the rocks still shifting below her feet as she tried to calm her heart. "We better pick up the pace." There was no way she was going to come all this way to get crushed to death by a damn ramp.

"Agreed." Delgado turned and resumed his climb, just a few more feet and the opening would be big enough to get through. If had been using his damn head he should've let Jaz go first, her weight wouldn't have loosened the rocks so much plus she's smaller. She'd be able to squeeze through the gap sooner, hell, wasn't much use kicking himself over it now.

"There." He muttered as he swung his pack off his shoulder, then moved sideways and wiggled his body into the gap. It was a tight fit but there was nothing left to climb. It took him a minute but he managed to push and squirm his way in. "Hey sis, you think there will be anything that can impale me in some gruesome manner if I drop down?"

She arched a brow as she tried to position herself next to him. "There shouldn't be but no telling what kind of debris is down there."

He let out a sigh as he tried to find footing to descend, his locator lights and shoulder mounted light offered some illumination but nothing that reached into the void below. "Wait until I give the go ahead." He wanted to make sure it was safe for her to climb down. Everything was pretty loose and him stomping on it all over again going back down wasn't reassuring.

She gave a nod as he disappeared into the darkness, it was only a few steps down and his face vanished from view. His lights being the only thing to let her know he was still there. Her feet inched forward as she slipped into the gap, her longshot went in first as she leaned into the area to try and follow his movements so she knew what direction to climb down.

A splash from down below let her know he reached the bottom.

"Area looks clear." He turned around a few time to scan the place, the water soaking him up to his thighs and cold as all hell. Didn't look like there was anything to get terribly impaled on…

A loud groan echoed throughout the hull and made his heart stop, eyes looked upward to see the sliver of light trembling. "Jaz!" He yelled up to her.

Her reply was a series of curses as she scrambled to move, her feet slipping on the soil and rocks as she moved. She wasn't going to make it… the ramp was closing and she pulled her hand away before she lost another body part. There was nothing to grab and her footing was literally crumbling away, suddenly she was falling without even enough time to scream.

The sunlight was gone and he could clearly see her lights falling, he moved forward a few steps to position himself right below her. Just in time to have her body falling into him, he tried to catch her but the floor beneath the water was slippery and he went down with her on top of him with a combined curse.

 _"_ _What the hell was that?!"_

It was Jeremiah, they could hear Adrian wanting to check on them but Toby must've been restraining him.

"The ramp is closed…" Jazmyne responded, her heart still racing as she stood up with trembling legs. "We're fine." She answered their next question before it could be asked, holding out a hand to help her brother up.

"Just covered in shit stew…" Delgado grumbled as he stood up and rung out his pony tail. "I really hope the showers still work…"

"They should." She was bent over trying to find her longshot in the water, it's going to be useless now until she could tear it apart and clean it… There it is. "The ship was designed to be self-sustaining. The imulsion tanker you saw outside collects rain water with a built in filtration system so there should be plenty reserved if it's been sitting for so long and since the ramp had enough power to shut that means the rest of the systems should be able to be turned on as well." She slung the rifle on her back, no sense in worrying about it getting wet now.

 _"_ _So how do we get the lights back on? Found some switches but nothing is working"_

It was Toby now. "We need to make our way to CIC, system most likely needs a reboot. There should be doors open leading to the bridge, if the lights aren't working that means the ship was but on lockdown to reserve power. Only the doors that lead to the upper deck and bridge will still be functioning."

 _"_ _So just keep using the doors that are unlocked and it'll lead up there, right?"_

"That's the plan." She checked to make sure nothing else got lost before taking a few steps forward; she didn't doubt that the others would find the way to the main deck first. Toby had served on these types of cruisers before so he'd be able to get his bearings before long.

"So where to now?" Delgado came up beside her, checking out his own lancer that had gotten submerged.

"This way." She started forward, water sloshing as they waded further in. Her heart was still pounding but she tried to ignore it… it had been so long since she stepped foot in here. Back then this ship still sailed on the sea and was full of so much life… What happened to everyone?

* * *

Toby grumbled to himself, it didn't feel right… He peered in to some of the open rooms, a layer of dust covered everything but what bothered him was the fact there was so much of everything. Coats still hung up on the wall, half-finished projects on the benches…

Jeremiah walked up beside his old friend, handing him a wrench he had just picked up from a workbench nearby. They exchanged looks and each had the same unsettled expression. "You think'n what I'm think'n." It wasn't a question really; he already knew the response.

"Yea." He took the tool and rubbed the dust off of it, metal still had a decent shine to it. Just like the other tools he had seen, everything was well taken care of and still good… so why leave it behind? There isn't a mechanic anywhere that would leave a stock pile like this behind considering the state of the world, just a few of these tools could be traded for a crate of food or jug of water.

 _"_ _We are in the living quarters now."_ Jazmyne reported in, they had been silent for a bit now.

Riktor set down a picture he had picked up, a group of men and women standing around some moto-bike. His mind thinking the same thing as the other men. "Hey Jazzi, are some of the doors open to the quarters?"

 _"_ _Uh… Yea, a few of them actually…"_

He could hear the confusion in her voice already, so she was already starting to pick up on what they were thinking. "Is there a lot of personal effects still around."

 _"…_ _Yea."_

Her voice sounded sad, Riktor made eye contact with Jeremiah and he just nodded his head to the door to tell them to move on. With any luck there would be answers in CIC.

* * *

Jazmyne knelt down and picked up a doll she saw crumpled on the floor, like everything else it was covered in dust. She patted it gently to clean it a bit, the painted face still bright beneath the layer of grey. This doll had been loved…

"Why would they leave everything behind?" Delgado wiped clean a picture hanging on the wall, a couple with their daughter. Smiling and happy… wouldn't they want to keep a memory like this?

"Maybe they planned on coming back?" She said it but she didn't really believe it herself, she hugged the doll mindlessly as went back to walking through the hall. Peering into some of the rooms as she went along.

He sighed a little as he shook his head and followed her out. "Come on sis…" He didn't want to be the one to force her into accepting it but if she deludes herself it'll only make it hurt more. "What's the point of locking the front door when you leave the back one wide open?"

She gave him a confused look as she turned a bit. "What do you mean?"

"They might have left through the ramp and closed it but they didn't secure this place, granted there's a huge hole in the side of the ship but they could've at least locked the hatch the other guys used and sectioned that area off… but they didn't."

"Maybe…"

"Sis…" He interrupted her and put a hand on her head. "Don't make me say it." Everything got left because there wasn't anyone left to come back for it all… the question now was… where the hell are the bodies? And who closed the ramp… this whole place just didn't feel right. He didn't think it was locust, there would have been a whole lot more blood if a bunch of grubs went tearing through a ship full of civvies…

She took a deep breath, still hugging the doll to her chest. "Come on… CIC is this way." She tried to focus her attention on moving forward but she couldn't help glancing into rooms as she went past, the feeling in her gut beginning to churn more and more, maybe because it was so damn quiet.

 _"_ _We're in the Mess kiddo, what's your location?"_

She looked up, shining her light around to catch sight of the sign on the bulkhead. "Heading there now, just wait for us. The stairs to the main deck isn't far from there."

* * *

"You got it." Jeremiah crossed his arms and braced himself against a table, the other two had started rummaging through the galley to find any still edible food. None of them had any high hopes but it didn't hurt to look.

He looked up to see Toby heading towards him, the film and algea over the large windows blocked out some of the moon's light but it still made it a little easier to see than just using their lights. "What's the verdict?"

The other gave a grunt. "These guys knew what they were doing. This place is a damned treasure trove." He held out his hand and offered up a piece of dried fish.

That made him arch a brow, he took it and gave it a sniff. "Jerky?"

"Close enough." He gnawed on another piece he had grabbed for himself. "The pantry is stocked with honey, salt, wheat, enough rice to feed a small country and hell they even got a stockpile of instant coffee."

"Hot damn." He couldn't even remember the last time he had coffee, he bit into the piece of meat and eyed it again. "How'd they keep it fresh?"

"The meat was vacuumed sealed after it was dried and everything else looks to be stuff that holds up indefinitely. I think I even saw some powdered milk and sugar." He turned back around to see Riktor coming back out and adjusting his mask, kid must've grabbed a bite too.

Adrian scratched his head as he went up to the other two men. "I don't get it pops… why leave all of this behind? This isn't just a few scraps, there's enough here to keep a whole colony alive for years and this island seems safe. We didn't see any signs of fighting on the way here, hell we found plenty of islands that were remote enough that the grubs and lambent didn't mess with em… so if even some of these people survived they could have lived here safely."

Jeremiah gave a sigh as he finished the piece of fish off, he didn't understand it either… what the hell could've made these people abandon this place?

The sounds of boots hitting metal made them all turn; they saw the shine from the flashlights first before the other two came into view. Jeremiah gave them a wave and closed the gap. "Find anything kiddo?"

She shook her head. "Not really, just a lot of rooms that I almost wish where empty…" She hated saying it but it seemed… worse to see everything abandoned. It's like the colony gave up on everything and just walked away.

He put a hand on her head and gave her a little pet, for once he didn't even know what to say. She finally found the place they had been looking for but it sure as hell didn't put them at ease. This damn ghost ship raised a helluva lot of questions and not a single answer.

Toby handed them some fish to chew on, they never did get to eat lunch so a little something to tide them over would be best. "I doubt this will make you feel any better baby girl but the galley is still stocked with good food."

"The fuck?" Delgado took the piece of meat and gave it a sniff. "How the hell is that possible?"

From behind them Riktor gave a grumble. "We can educate you on non-perishable foods later, let's get to the bridge." He turned away and started to walk towards the steps leading up, Toby told him how to get up to the deck so he'd take point for now. He just wanted to get to CIC as quickly as they could, he wanted Jazzi to find some answers.

The others gave a nod and followed after him, the two older men hanging back to bring up the rear as usual but mostly to leave a distance between them and the kids so they can talk privately. "I got a real bad feeling about this." Toby tightened and relaxed his grip on his lancer a few times, his fingers were itching. He kept expecting a damn ticker or wretch to scurry out of a dark corner… but there was nothing.

"I know the feeling brother…" Jeremiah started up the stairs, the old metal steps giving a little groan under his weight. For the last three years they spent roaming about, cleaning up messes left from the war and letting more and more of their old life slip away. Sera didn't need gears anymore, yea the world was a shit storm and they were all still picking up the pieces but the real terror was over. None of them had gotten this type of feeling since that Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon went off wiping out the lambent pandemic and the grubs along with it… and none of them wanted to have this feeling again. It was the feel of your stomach knotting up, your ears picking up on every little sound around you and hands aching while holding a gun that seemed to get heavier with every passing moment… it was the feeling you'd get right before the fighting started… but why the hell where they getting on edge right now, what was it about this old ship that had them worrying like this…

Riktor and Delgado leaned into the heavy door with all their weight, it should have been easy to open with one person but there was a good bit of overgrowth blocking it. With a grunt they managed to push it open with enough room for all of them to squeeze out.

The sun had set and the main deck was only illuminated by their individual lights and the moon above them… which did nothing for the creepy factor of having to walk the length of four thrashball fields to get to the bridge of an abandoned ship.

"What did they have up here baby girl?" He eyed some heavy plastic domes, a few of them were broken and plants were growing out of the cracks in the plastic.

"Hm?" Jazmyne looked behind her when she heard Toby's voice. "The domes were greenhouses we used, the heavy plastic protected them from razor hail…" She pointed to a building that was now collapsed, the wood that was used to support it rotted from the elements long ago. "That building there was a forge; we'd melt down scraps that could no longer be repaired or metal we got from the stranded."

Jeremiah gave a smirk; these people really did have their shit together. Hell if they could find someone who knew how to work one of those things they might be able… no, what the hell was he thinking… hmmm… it wasn't a bad idea… maybe. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, first matter to deal with was why they hell did the scientists abandon this place. There had to be a reason…

Quietly they made their way across the deck, Jazmyne's heart continued to ache as she looked around. In her mind she could still see the people here as they used to be, the adults laughing and talking to each other and the kids running around trying to catch runaway chickens… the last time she was on this ship was before she became a gear, much to her parent's disapproval… but they still stayed in contact and supported her… up until the hammer strikes.

The stairs leading up to the bridge looked none too safe but they went for it anyways, the metal complained loudly at having all the weight on it but thankfully it held and they reached the door to the bridge. Once again it took two of them to force it open, the hinges rusted tight from neglect but still they managed.

Delgado coughed as he fanned the stale air away, this place had been locked up tight for a good long while. "So how do we reboot the place sis?"

She grimaced a little and covered her mouth and nose to try and block out the smell assaulting her senses. "There should be two large levers on opposite walls."

"This?" Riktor pointed to a large red lever switch in the wall.

"Yea." She turned and found the companion switch. "Ready the switch by pulling it down till you hear a click…" They both performed the action then she pointed towards the main board. "Now, two of you find the red buttons over there. They should be at opposite ends of the board under a plastic shield with security tape around it."

"Yippy skippy." Delgado said with a smirk. "I love it when I get to smash buttons."

She gave a grin then looked back to Adrian as Jeremiah found the other button. "Ok, on three we'll push the levers back up. As soon as we do the buttons will light up and you guys smash them." The others gave her a nod and she grabbed her lever, giving Adrian a firm nod to let him know she was about to start. "Ready… and… Three!"

Luckily they were all used to forgoing the 'One' and 'Two'. The four of them performed the actions, Delgado enjoying his 'smash the button' job a little bit too much but the task got done. Around them the lights started to flicker and the board began to light up, the subtle 'whir' sound from the electric running through the old ship brought it back to life. Outside they heard the heavy sound of the large deck lights coming back on, some of the bulbs exploded in a shatter of glass and sparks. Inside CIC the others went to the large window that looked out across the partially lit deck.

"Not everything is turning on…" Delgado leaned against the window as he peered out, some of the larger lights came on and a handful of smaller ones but it still looked pretty dark on the front end of the ship.

"Not surprising." Toby gave a grumble. "A lot of the wiring down there would've been corroded after so long. Only rooms and decks that were sealed off would've been able to keep the moisture out…" He gave a heavy sigh; this ship would need a lot of work to get all the systems running again but even if they could conjure up a miracle to seal the breach he doubted engineering would've survived…

Jazmyne gave a sigh. "A lot of the solar panels could've been damaged over the years and I don't think any of the wind turbines survived…"

"You are co..correct."

A female voice sounded out in the room that scared the shit out of all of them, the five of them whirled around with hands going to weapons. "Show yourself!" Jeremiah called out as he stepped forward, lancer drawn up to the ready as he scanned the room.

Riktor stepped in front of Jazz, passing off his gun as he unsheathed his trench knife and readied himself into a fighting stance. She wasn't a close range combatant at all, her longshot would be useless in this room anyways but he knew she'd handle her own if it came down to it. He'd make sure of it.

"Please announce yourself, I can't see you."

Jazmyne tilted her head, wait a second… she knew that voice. "Diana?"

"You are Diana?"

"No, no." She stepped forward and signaled for the guys to stand down. "Diana, it's me. It's Jazmyne, authorization: Lima Zero Victor Three."

"Authorization reco..cognized, welcome home Jazmyne."

The men exchanged glances before Toby stepped forward. "This ship has an A.I?"

"Not quite." Jazmyne responded as she climbed up onto the table in the middle of the room and began cleaning off a small glass dome in the ceiling that was covered in a film of dust. "She's only semi-sentient, she helps to monitor the ship and lets us know resource and power levels…"

"That is not entirely accurate Miss Jazmyne." The voice spoke up again. "And thank you for cleaning my eye."

"What do you mean?" After she finished she got down but continued to look up towards the camera she had just cleaned off. "And you're welcome."

"After you left the scientists continued to upgrade me, I am now a little more than semi but not quite fully sentient right now." There was a pause. "Who are those men? I do not have their data stored in my memory."

"You have facial recognition software now?" She asked a little impressed.

"Look, Diana… Mam." Jeremiah stepped forward, scratching his head a little. This sure as hell was a new experience for him, never thought he'd be having a conversation with a computer. "We'd be more than happy to do introductions and the like later but right now we really want to know what the hell happened here."

"Please be more specific." The voice asked. "There's been quite a lot that has happened here."

Jazmyne took a deep breath, she was now remembering how difficult A.I's could be in needing exact questions. "Why was the ship abandoned, did my mother or father leave a data disc for me to find that could explain it?" She knew her parents, there just had to be…

"Yes, as a matter of fact. There are many discs, one moment… I'm having a memory."

Delgado leaned in next to Jazmyne with a confused look on his face and whispered. "How exactly do machines have memories?"

"Ah… it could have been a combination of voice recognition and key words that triggered her to run a program…"

 _"Hello, my wonderful girl…"_

A man's voice interrupted her explanation and her eye's got wide. "Dad?" She scanned the room till she found a monitor playing with a familiar face on it. They gathered around it, she leaned in closer than the rest.

 _"I'm sorry that this is how you have to see me after so long, I really hoped… I could talk to you face to face, one last time."_ The image distorted a little than refocused. _"But there's something more important right now, in the lab you'll find a safe hidden in your favorite spot. It's been sealed with a DNA ver…verification, only you can open..."_ The image went static and Toby gave it a slid smack which seemed to help as the video returned. _"…memory unit with all the answers you need and there is another box, to open it will require not only your DNA but that of the Fenix family…"_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Delgado stood up in shock. "He talking about the damn war heroes?!"

The rest hushed him harshly so they could continue listening, Riktor adding a quick jab to the gut that knocked the wind out of his brother.

 _"… wish we had more time, we tried to find you but… but… ran out of time…"_ The image distorted and went to static, and no amount of smacking the monitor was helping this time.

Toby gave a grumble as he stepped away. "Looks like is got corrupted, do you think you can recover anything?"

Jazmyne took a deep breath and hugged herself, she had waited so long to hear her father's voice but this wasn't what she was expecting. "I… I don't think I can, I know how the systems work but I don't know to begin repairing them…" She had some knowledge with computer systems but not enough for something like this.

Jeremiah came up and gave her a hug, he could tell this was bothering her. Hell, it was bothering him too. That didn't answer any of their questions and even made more, what the hell kind of connection did they have to the Fenix's? There wasn't a single member of the COG that didn't know that family… and was it Adam or that boy Marcus… "So where's this lab at?"

"Ah…" She rubbed her eyes, she was overcome with the feeling like she was about to cry but she pushed it back and stepped away. Even though she wanted to stay in his warm reassuring hug, she had to find that memory unit. "It's this way, we converted the old pilot ready room into the main lab… Diana, can you unlock the doors leading there."

"Yes, there is minimal power in the reserves. I will reroute power to the lab so it will be fully accessible."

She gave a nod and headed out, the others in tow. She knew they were behind her but the sound of their footsteps seemed to fade away and her mind focused on her father's voice. In her hand was still the doll she picked up earlier, she clutched it tightly as if it was her own and took a fraction of reassurance from it…

Riktor gave a sigh and crossed his arms as they headed out. "What do you think pops?"

Jeremiah gave a grumble as they slowed to let her to get a little further ahead of them, she had enough to worry about right now. "I'm liking this less and less…" He rubbed his chin and gave his goatee a scratch. "Especially if it involves hunting down the Fenix boy."

"Why's that pops?" Delgado walked casually with his hands clasped behind his head. "I mean; Marcus Fenix is a legend. Guys loco man, it'd be an honor…"

"Quite boy." Toby's stern voice stopped the hero worship right there, it wasn't often they heard that side of him but all three of the men knew it was time to keep their mouths shut now. "You young-ins like to remember all the glory that the battle of Aspho fields brought but I fully remember what happened at Ephyra…" He rubbed his hand, where the gold ring he still wore was hidden by his glove and gave a low growl as he pushed passed the other three to catch up to Jaz.

Jeremiah gave his boys a sideways glance. "No more talk about the Fenix's, once she finds out what happened to her parents I'm gonna put my foot down. We're gonna get settled and end this roaming about." He was getting damn tired, he loved the girl just as much as everyone else here but they did what they sought out to do. Hell, they could even settle down here. The land was good and the ship was still stocked and stable, maybe have Zeke find a few stranded willing to relocate and share a home with some old gears… preferably some cute young islander beauties. Yea… That'd be nice.

The boys exchanged looks and Riktor just gave a shrug. "Yea, that sounds good pops." His eyes traveling down to Jazzi as she disappeared around a corner with Unck in tow…

* * *

Jazmyne gave a groan, she thought she remembered the spot her father was talking about but obviously not. She had torn this whole damn lab apart, she thought it was the bench near where mother kept her flowers… maybe she should look there again…

Riktor eyed a filing cabinet that seemed out of place, it was tilted a bit while the others were flat against the wall. "Hey Jazzi, is there something back here?" He went to it and moved the heavy cabinet with a screeching of metal.

She looked up and tilted her head to the side… then her eyes got wide. "Yes! That's it." She moved to help him and they managed to get it pulled out of the way to reveal a small cubby hole. "They must have covered it up to hide it." She crawled into the hole on her hands and knees, it was a lot tighter squeeze than she remembered from when she was a girl… the armor wasn't helping either. Her finger tips grazed something metal, she reached further in and grabbed what felt like a metal box. She went to back out but… son of a… "Assistance!"

Jeremiah gave a laugh as he grabbed onto one of her legs. "What's the matter kiddo? Tight squeeze?"

Delgado had a wide grin on his face as he crouched down and grabbed her other leg. "I told you those sweets that's Zeke gave ya would go to your hips sis."

From inside the cubby hole came the simple reply. "Adrian."

"Yep." There was a solid _crack_ that came from the meeting of his fist against his brother's head. "There's nothing wrong with her hips." He mumbled the last part a little as he took a step back to clear the way.

The two men that were grabbing onto her gave her a tug and freed her from the confined space, she gave a bit of a cough from the amount of dust in her lungs down but sat up with the metal box cradled in her arms like it was a baby.

"That seems a little out of the way baby girl." Toby helped her up and brushed off the dust clump that was in her hair.

"This area used to have mother's ferns." She laughed a little. "I'd hide in there and pounce out at people walking by like I was this ferocious wild cat." She smiled at the fond memory, she had gotten really good at making the other scientist jumpy when they walked past… but those antics wouldn't be very funny now… not with the memories of tickers in air vents… she gave a shudder and walked over to the closest desk, setting the box down she cleaned off the sensor on the top and eyed it to make sure it didn't get damaged.

"Sooo…" Delgado eyed the metal box curiously, it was long… either there was a big ass memory unit in there or a shit tone of data discs. "When your pops said it needed DNA… what kind exactly?"

She gave a smile as she pulled off her glove. "Usually for something like this some saliva would be fine but considering how long it's been sitting I want to make sure it gets a solid sample." She pulled her combat knife from its sheath on her lower back and made a quick clean cut to her thumb, she let the blood gather for a moment before turning her hand and letting the droplets fall onto the sensor. She just hoped the internal battery for the sensor held out over the years…

After a few unsettling moments they heard a click and then the latch popped open. She swung the lid open and eyed the stack of data discs that were inside.

"Christ…" Jeremiah picked one up and eyed it. "It's going to take forever to go through all these." They didn't even look like they'd been marked, pretty sloppy for a bunch or scientists.

Jazmyne picked up a smaller box with a memory unit tied to it with old cord. "This must be the box that father wanted me to bring to Fenix…" She brought it and the unit over to a nearby computer and turned the machine on. "Let's see what's on this first." She plugged the unit in and heard the machines whirring as the internal components began to work.

 _"Hello my angel."_

A woman was on the screen now and the others could tell it was Jaz's mother, Jeremiah crossed his arms as he eyed the screen. What did she have to say that was so important for this type of security measure.

 _"We don't have much time sweetie…"_ The woman gave a soft smile and Jazmyne touched the screen gently… _"We have become infected…"_

That caused them all to stop breathing, those words alone causing all of them to rethink everything they had done up to this point. This infection… was it in the air… the food…

 _"It happened just before the hammer strikes, we came upon an island that wasn't on any charts. We were cautious so we sent a small research team to check it out, what we found there… was unspeakable. The team we sent ashore returned quickly but it was already too late, they encountered what we could only assume were a type of locusts but these were smaller and moved around like primates…"_

"Wretches." Ricktor gave a grumble, at that time they weren't very well known so it's possible that these guys encountered the lousy little grubs before most of the COG…

 _"They were volatile and reeked of imulsion, further more when they were shot they exploded…"_

"Lambent Wretches…" Toby rubbed his chin, what the hell were glowies doing around back then? They didn't encounter those until the pandemic came to light…

 _"Our team was sprayed with, what we thought, was harmless biologicals but after they returned to the ship we began to notice a change in them. It started out with small variations to their attitude, then they started to become more emotionally unstable. We ran tests and discovered a mutation in their cells, we first thought it was the glowing residue that caused this but on further inspection we discovered the imulsion was just being used as a carrier for the mutation… but by then it was too late. The infection had slowly begun to spread, it absorbed into our bodies through skin contact…"_

"Aww man…" Delgado gave started rubbing his arms nervously. "Anybody else feel like taking a scalding hot shower…"

The image smiled a little. _"Don't worry, the mutation could not survive outside of a human host and could not be spread to the animals. We discovered that it died within minutes of contact with the air."_ The woman frowned a little. _"But we fear that this was only a test run, we think we inadvertently stumbled upon a research sight of unknown origin that was developing this as a biological weapon. The data discs in the case will have all of our research notes on what we discovered…"_ The woman sighed heavily. _"I am sorry we must ask this of you but you need to warn the people… after we discovered what was happening to us the hammer strikes hit and caused the ship the be marooned here on this island. Many of us did not survive the wreck… those were the lucky ones… the accident destroyed the radio satellites so we could not contact the outside world… We are going to die on this island…"_

Jazmyne cupped her mouth, trying her best not to cry. Even after seeing this ship she still had some hope… but now that was gone.

Riktor put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them gently to try and calm her, he couldn't even begin to understand how she felt. She clung onto hope as they spent all this time searching and right when she finally found what she had been looking for the people she wanted to find most where gone.

 _"The video data I'm about to play is what happened to the research team that was infected first, it won't be easy to watch but you must. You need to understand what exactly this means… for every human on Sera. We just hope that you find this in time and bring the second sealed box to a scientist known as Adam Fenix, he'll know what to do and how to stop this. Remember my angel, I love you."_

The image went dark and the five continued to watch it quietly unsure of what they were about to see… when the video reappeared it was something none of them wanted to see.

"Dear lord…" Jeremiah was the first to say something, he could see the things on the screen but… hell, he didn't want to believe it.

Jazmyne's hands still cupped her mouth but her sadness was replaced by utter shock… how was this… even possible…

Delgado's mouth hung open as he looked over to his brother whose eyes were just as wide as everybody else's and glued firmly on the screen. Where they… seriously watching this… these people… used to be the scientists…

Toby reached down and turned off the monitor, he had enough… there wasn't doubting a few of them would be having some extra nightmares now… he gave a heavy sigh that broke the silence that was slowly building as the others continued to watch the black screen. "Looks like… we don't have a choice…" He looked over to his friend… his brother and shook his head. This was the last thing he ever wanted to do…

Jeremiah frowned a little… so much for putting his foot down. "Let's go find the Fenix boy…" He gave his little girl a squeeze on her shoulder and turned away to let get a reign on what they were feeling. He stuck a cigar in his mouth and lit it, hoping the smoke that was filling his lungs would ease his own mind. What they saw… hell it scared the shit out of him… but he couldn't let the kids see it, he at least needed to keep his cool. For their sake. Beside him his friend came up, repeating the action of bring a smoke to his lips as well. "So… any idea on where to find em?" There weren't too many places that either of them could think of but it shouldn't be hard to catch wind of the infamous Marcus Fenix, just sucks that it had to be him of all people they had to find.

"Not a damn one…" Toby gave a grumble as he scratched his head. "Let's just hope the boy is gonna be of any use." This was most likely the only time he'd ever find it regrettable the Adam Fenix died with the wave that killed off the locust and lambent…

"Figures…" He responded with a sigh as he looked over his shoulder and back to the kids, they were all standing there in shock still… "Let's take a week, we can rest and get restocked on supplies before we head back out… give the kids time to let everything soak in."

"Yea… good plan."

 **To Be Continued…**


End file.
